I am at Nine Worlds London this weekend!

So I am! Nine Worlds convention, London, 12-14th August! Behold my schedule. Ignore the panel on Sunday which has strangely been included but which I’m not on. It’s probably not too late to buy tickets! Hurrah!

In other news, am 200K words into my new book, probably another 100K to go. It’s big! Epic fantasy is epic, it turns out. Will let you know when I have a title and when I can reveal more. Current release date is probably end of next year, but nothing fixed yet.

I should put this on the front page one day, but if you want up to date news (such as it is) it’s best to follow me on Twitter @_ChrisWooding_ (note the crafty underscores). And if you want all the secret news I’m not supposed to talk about then find me at the con and buy me a drink.

Those poor souls who still come around to ask about Pandemonium… how long have they waited in hope before they came here only to realize that Pandemonium has been discontinued before it even got to properly launch.

Actually, this is just one of many chaotic events that have occurred over the course of this year. Beloved celebrities have died (I miss Alan Rickman), my choices for president have dwindled from about twenty insane people to two insane people and one will be the face of America for the next four years (it was a good run though. I’ve never found politics so much fun), more rebellions and bombings have taken place (Turkey was scary), and now the internet is malfunctioning.

I swear to god our politics went from being a legit thing to a bad sitcom election. The democrats conspired against Bernie (I wasn’t a supporter but by golly this is America and we WILL have a fair election), and Hillary is one of the most stereotypical politicians ever. And that was kind of it for them.

The republicans… Ben Carson may or may not have actually been alive, Ted Cruz aka Zodiac Killer spent the entire Republican convention talking about himself, Carly SANG, Bush had to ask for applause and handed out turtles, Christie basically became Trump’s minion on the bash Rubio campaign, Kasich ran himself into the ground in an embarrassingly long campaign, Rubio was that dumb go-getter who decided to compete with the underdogs and got eaten alive (it hurt), and everybody else was just… kind of… there. Except Trump who is insane and needs his own list.

One of the things that’s really bugging me right now is that I don’t like Trump, but I have to admit that he’s right about the system being rigged. Google the latest voter frauds. Democratic groups in Chicago and other cities are registering multiple deceased to vote for Hillary. Non-citizens are voting for Hillary. In the meantime, Democrats (specifically, black Democrats) are being denied voter registration because the North Carolina state government is packed full of idiots with no understanding of true American principles. It’s messed up.

At this rate, the only thing I’m looking for out of this election is enough of the popular vote for Gary Johnson so that we can have a third party on the debate stage in 2020. It could force the Republicans to change their socially conservative ways in order to attract a new audience and remain a prominent force. Or, it could foreshadow the death of the Republican party. Even better, if a third party gained power, it could injure the electoral system because it was meant to function with two parties, not three. And that would be awesome, because the electoral system needs to go. It was created because it was harder to track the population way back in the day so giving the states a number was a simple estimate. Nowadays, we have computers to keep records and take ballots and all that jazz, so we should do away with the electoral system. It’s unfair. We live in a representative democracy, but if you live in a state that’s mostly Republican, then your Democrat vote won’t be properly represented and vice versa. You’re not equally represented. It also makes voter fraud more effective because a scam in a few large cities could give a swing state to another party but it would take a larger, cumulative effort to have the same effective magnitude on the election if popular vote was used.

Grrr, I really don’t wanna do this, but I need some help. I am a young writer (almost 19 now actually…yay) and I am writing my first book. I know how its gonna pan out and stuff, but I’m just…I don’t know. I guess I’m worried about being found and published and all that nonsense. I mean, I love writing just because its my passion and I’m kinda good at it. Just…not too sure how to get discovered. So this goes out to everyone I suppose.

From what I understand, if you want to sell a book, you need to start out with something different. You need multiple social media accounts that you must post regularly on in order to gain popularity. Next, you create a YouTube channel or a blog that is in some way book-related. Gain popularity through the videos/blog posts. When you have a little fame to your name, try to get the book published. Once you have it nearly published, get in contact with librarians (school librarians if you’re doing YA or younger) in your area, and offer early release copies for free (in my area, they’re quite nice about advertising the books out in front). Also, parade the book around your social media accounts, blog, or YouTube channel. Hopefully, somebody will be interested in reading the book, review the book, or perhaps buy the book. Then, create a website specifically for your books so you can gauge your fanbase and create a gathering place.

After that, I don’t know how book-promoting works. I guess you could pay for ads to be placed on various websites, but I don’t know.

Hmm. This is actually the best advice I’ve ever gotten concerning this situation. Thank you very much. Definitely beats everything I’ve Googled (even been so desperate as to use Bing…I know right!) But anyways, thanks for the help. One last thing…is Chris still some type of pie? I remember something about that a long time ago.

Hmm…that’s an interesting pie. And Ysabel, it’s one of those superhero books, only it is a little bit more. It tackles some social issues that are being fought today and has some pretty mature dialogue. As well as adult violence. It’s the first part of an eight part series, and it might go farther than that.

Basically, the world is set in modern time and modern U.S.A, and the main character, Onreii Valentine (last name might change) goes back to his hometown to try and find answers to a certain action that took place (not gonna just spoil it, that would be rude)

That’s the basics. Onreii isn’t the only main character though. There are other people known as Deviants who have powers like Onreii. only, they aren’t the same. Powers range from simply being able to mock voices, to being able to blow things up with ya mind. Other than Onreii, there are five other points of views and four of them are Deviants. One is just human.

I don’t think you need to apologize for the text wall after my “f*** the election system” post.

That sounds really cool. I’m thinking YA?

About the last name of Valentine I’m going to give my own, unwarranted opinion. You should only change it if Onreii isn’t some kind of badass (or will become badass over the course of the story). Because the name sounds pretty cool, and only the coolest of characters deserve epic sounding names such as Onreii Valentine.

I mean, it could be. If i took out all the naughty words and gory scenes. I mean, I don’t know. People might still consider it YA, but I know what I’m writing, and it ain’t cookie cutter.

He is a badass, and becomes even more of a badass as the story goes. I just didn’t want the last name to be bland or anything, but I’m glad to hear you like it and my spoiler-free summary.

Oh and don’t worry about your “f*** the election system” post. I’ve said my fair share about it. Both candidates are going to basically be blamed for everything wrong with America. I’m just waiting for some of the supporters to realize that neither option really is the best for the country. Just better than the other in their opinion.

What country do you hail from? I’m trying to gauge what you consider to be “naughty words” and “gory scenes” because “12 and up” in America is typical superhero movie violence and a “damn” if the author was feeling edgy while “12 and up” in Ireland could have anything from 5+ swears, to severe mutilation and injury from the recipients POV, to bloodier massacres than the average slasher film.

Valentine is NOT bland. When I think Valentine, I think knives, red, deadly poker games, death-defying stunts, smirks, guns, generally kick-ass-ness. From what I know, the name defines your character. But it’s your writing so you can do whatever you want with it.

I hail from U.S actually. I consider it mature because of the realistic dialogue between characters. Ya know? Like, if someone is in a life or death situation, then saying holy mackerel won’t be the first thing on their mind. I guess what I’m trying to say is…I don’t give the characters a filter. I let them express themselves naturally. Kind of like they’re (almost said their, hahahahaha buffoonery) in a Deadpool movie rather than a Captain America movie. So some hardcore swears and some bloody scenes (so far, only one bloody scene)

I completely agree with you. I suppose my use of the word “bland” was probably incorrect. I guess I mean to say that it would seem too predictable. Or maybe overused. I do like it though, and I feel like I plan on keeping it because if I change it now, then it wouldn’t feel right anymore. Onreii Valentine feels right. Just want his name to be perfect. Man has to stand out.

Way to go and shame others’ typos, Ysabel 😛 Besides, how do you know that my ‘godly’ description wasn’t on purpose?

Also (butting in without anyone asking to), I like the whole banter between Captain America and the other characters once Steve starts swearing a bit more than what he used to. Oh, and the ‘I’ve got a package for Tony Stank’ scene at the end of Civil War was brilliant!

Yeah, this is true. It’s always fun to see these superheroes have a conversation like a normal person. Probably why I like Marvel movies so much. The actors always bring a sort of…”human” element to their powered characters.

Each character will have his or her kinks and quirks and problems. Still trying my best to make every character different. One of my fears is to make the same character like, three times or something. I want them each to speak, think, and act differently.

I’m actually getting into the easy part of the story now, so I may almost be done. I have like, 30 or so chapters drafted up before I took it off Wattpad. Now I just have to add a few chapters and edit the old ones. Then add some more at the end. Then I think it’ll be done. You can read what I have so far on Wattpad. Unless you’re one of those who has to read the book in its entirety, and not by chapter updates, which is fine. Heck, I suck at making timely updates.

Also, happy election day!
Because tomorrow will be a day of depression, or at least it will be at my school.

It’s funny. Nobody where I live started out as a Trump or Hillary supporter. We were all for Rubio, Kasich, Johnson, and Bernie. Then Rubio dropped out and it became apparent that Kasich hadn’t a chance. Then Hillary won the nomination. So everybody went into limbo, not quite knowing who the greater evil was, and if third party was worth it at all. A month before, it was decided, and many grudgingly put on their “make America great again” hats, and a few announced their support for Hillary.

Today, everyone was decked out in red, white and blue, even going so far as to wear suits for the occasion. But despite the celebratory clothing, resignment hung in the air. I spoke with many of my classmates about who they were voting for, and why, only to find that their loyalties mainly had to do with taxes and family voting patterns. At some point we all came to the same conclusion:

Seriously though! Which makes me laugh because so many have dogged Obama even though he was a pretty successful President. I will definitely miss him. But honestly, I don’t care who wins this election. At the end of the day, America did this to itself.

Yeah. Who knows, maybe he’ll actually do a good job. I still think that little stock market mishap is a sign for things to come. Even when Putin basically said Trump makes America weaker. So yeah. Time to move on and hope that half the country isn’t right about our new President.

Every time something major like an election or BREXIT happens, the stock market dips. I’m not worried about that.

When did Putin say that?

As far as foreign relations go, I really hope we never get around to dismantling NAFTA. Canada and many countries in South America rely on that treaty to maintain a decent economy. I am, however, for revising NATO because we pay way too much of it. We’re like how Britain was in the EU. But at the same time, I dislike the idea of damaging relationships with Europe. Same for Japan. I get that part of Trump’s goal is to spend as little $ as possible on resources because he wants to run America like a business, but this could injure many countries -America included- in the the long run. On the other hand, I’m all for increasing stability in our shaky alliances with Russia and China. As for the middle east, I think it could either be really good (because of Trump’s aggressive behavior) or really bad (also because of Trump’s aggressive behavior).

It’s all up in the air right now. All we can do is speculate and hope we don’t cease the “peaceful transition of leadership” stuff.

The thing I am really scared of in the trump presidency, (other than the racism and sexism that is.) Is his access to the nukes, and his unpredictability. He changes his views incredibly often, and that is weakening to any country, especially America in its divided state. I mean, if he starts a war against Isis, then 3 weeks later denies starting a war with Isis, America has some problems. Also his constant shift between liberal and conservative views will make it real hard for congress to work with him. Also, he doesn’t believe in climate change, which is in my opinion, really bad.